Hair curlers



SIQIS arent Utilice 2,797,692 Patented .July .2,1957

This invention relates to hair curlers and more particularly to a hair curling device which is manually `actuated and serves to roll a tress of hair around a mandrel so as to form a curl.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a simplified hair curler wherein a mandrel serves to receive the end of a tress of hair andis then'irapidlyrotated by a gear transmission actuated by two fingers of the user. The gear transmission takes the form of a rack and gear, one of the fingers actuating the rack. The two-finger control of the device is most important since it completely stabilizes the action and permits the mandrel to be rotated with equal force in both directions, the mandrel being responsive only to such actuation and not being influenced by any other force such as by springs or the like.

The invention will be further understood from the following description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the hair curler illustrating its operation;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view as taken along the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view as taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view as taken along the line 4 4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional View as taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

The article comprises a housing which may be cylindrical in form. In actual practice, it may be constructed of two elongated semi-spherical halves which are secured together by transverse pins such as pin 12 although such halves may be further cemented together as desired. The halves meet along central plane 11 as illsutrated in Figure 4.

One of the half sections is shown as formed with a longitudinal bore 13 which is accordingly olf-set from the longitudinal axis of the composite housing 10. As will be shown hereinafter, the actuating rack is reciprocatingly received in said bore 13. One end of housing 10 is further formed with an 'opening 14 which extends perpendicularly to bore 13 and communicates in part with such bore 13. Opening 14 receives the mandrel gear as will hereinafter be described so that it may mesh with the rack. Formed integrally at said one end of the housing 10 is a lateral nger grip member 15 having an opening which is adapted to receive the thumb.

The mandrel 16 is slotted at 17 for the usual purposes of receiving the end of a tress of hair although any conventional hair grip means may be employed. The inner end of the mandrel is hollow as illustrated in Figure 2, and it receives the stem 18 of a gear 19, the gear being fixed in respect to the stem 18 and mandrel 16 and being terminated with a smooth head 20. Although the stem 18 may be frictionally held within the hollow end opening of mandrel 16, it may further be fixed thereto by a transverse pin 21. The gear end of the mandrel is disposed in opening 14 of the housing, it being bodily rotatable in said opening so as to rotate the mandrel.

Z The mandrel actuating element comprises an elongated rack 22 having teeth 23 whichmesh with thepteeth ofthe gear 19. Alateral finger grip member 2,4 is secured to one end of the rack and it is adapted to be actuatedby p the index finger of the user which enters the Vopening'ZS as illustrated in Figure 1. Rack 22 is substantially of square cross-section as is bore 13 so as `to avoid any tendancy to rotate while it is actuated. A satisfactory method of assembling the device is to insert the rackin bore 13 whilethe semi-spherical halves` are unconnected thereafter depositing the gear end of the mandrel Vinplace and finally securing the halves togethen H f5 The hair curler of this invention is employed as. follows: -The fingerv grips 24 and'lvS, whichare disposed inthe same vertical plane, are held at'the side of the users head withthe mandrel 16 pointing toward the back of the head or toward the ears.` The end of a tress of hair H is inserted in the slot 17 where it will be held frictionally. The thumb and indexdingers` are theirl brought apart so as to rapidly rotate mandrelg16 inonedirectin and form a curl laroundthze mandrel. hereafter the curl is slipped off the end of the mandrel and a hair pin of any conventional type may be employed to keep the curl in formation. Of course, a number of curls may be formed by this process. For the other side of the head, the finger grip member should be actuated in the opposite direction, i. e., by bringing the finger grips together. The reason therefor is that the hair on the opposite side of the head must be rotated in an opposite direction to produce complementary curls. Inasmuch as no spring loading or other predetermined unidirectional force is applied to the mandrel, it may be rotated with equal facility in either direction by the simple expedient of bringing the thumb and index fingers toward and away from each other and the operator almost immediately can form desirable curls without practice or confusion.

There has been shown what is now considered a preferred embodiment of the invention but it is obvious that numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing from its spirit.

What is claimed is:

1. A hair curler comprising an elongated housing having a longitudinal bore formed therethrough, an elongated rack having teeth reciprocatingly disposed within said bore, a finger grip member on one end of said rack for actuating the same, a second finger grip member on one end of said housing, said finger grip members being adapted to simultaneously receive two fingers of the users hand so that movement of said lingers relative to each other produces actuation of said rack, a mandrel having one end thereof secured within said housing, and a gear formed at said mandrel end and meshing with said rack teeth whereby actuation of said rack produces rotation of said mandrel, said rack being freely reciprocable within said bore in either direction with substantially equal force.

2. A hair curler comprising an elongated housing having a longitudinal bore formed therethrough, an elongated rack having teeth reciprocatingly disposed within said bore, a finger grip member on one end of said rack for actuating the same, a second finger grip member on one end of said housing, said finger grip members being adapted to simultaneously receive two fingers of the users hand so that movement of said lingers relative to each other produces actuation of said rack, a mandrel having one end thereof secured within said housing, and a gear formed at said mandrel end and meshing with said rack teeth whereby actuation of said rack produces rotation of said mandrel, each of said finger grip members being laterally disposed relative to the rack and housing respectively and being disposed in the same plane.

3. A hair curler according to claim 2 and wherein said housing longitudinal bore is formed ofi-set from the longitudinal axis of the housing,

4. A hair curler according to claim 3 and wherein said mandrel is disposed at the same end of said housing as the nger grip of said housing.

5. A hair curler comprising an elongated housing having a longitudinal bore formed therethrough and which is oil-set from the longitudinal axis of the housing, an elongated rack having teeth reciprocatingly disposed Within said bore, a finger grip member on one end of said rack for actuating the same, a second inger grip member on one end of said housing, said linger grip members being adapted to simultaneously receive two iingers of the users hand so that movement of said fingers relative to each other produces actuation of said rack, said one endof said housing having an opening formed therein which is perpendicular to said longitudinal bore, a mandrel having one end thereof disposed Within said opening and extending perpendicularly to said housing, a gear formed on said mandrel end, said gear being disposed in said opening and meshing with said rack teeth whereby actuation of said rack produces rotation of said mandrel, said rack being freely reciprocable within said bore in either direction with substantially equal force.

6. A hair curler comprising an elongated housing having a longitudinal bore formed therethrough and which is olf-set from the longitudinal axis of the housing, an elongated rack having teeth reciprocatingly disposed Within said bore, a nger grip member on one end of said rack for actuating the same, a second finger grip member on one end of said housing, said uger grip members being adapted to simultaneously receive two lingers of the users hand so that movement of said fingers relative to each other produces actuation of said rack, said one end of said housing having an opening formed therein which is perpendicular to said longitudinal bore, a mandrel having one end thereof disposed Within said opening and extending perpendicularly to said housing, a gear formed on said mandrel end, said gear being disposed in opening and meshing with said rack teeth whereby aetnation of said rack produces rotation of said mandrel, and each of said linger grip members being laterally disposed relative to the rack and housing respectively and being both disposed in the same plane,

References Cited in the tile of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 519,969 France` June 18, 1921 

